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I am sitting in Graham’s room as I write this. He is completely off the sedations, and is moving his arms and head some! It will take a while for the drugs to completely leave his body so that he can wake up, but I am hopeful that he will wake today and open his eyes.

The procedure on his lung last night went well and he had a quiet night in the ICU. I will be by his side most of the day today just waiting for something to happen. Thank you for your prayers and I will keep you all updated as best I can.

We are at the end of day 7 of this and I feel like this has just been one long continuous day that never seems to end! He has been off all sedations today and is moving his arms some, but is not really with it yet. These drugs that they had him are are 100x’s more powerful than morphine, and will just take some time to leave his body! I can’t believe that a week ago we were flying down here in either a helicopter or car to see how he was….it’s just crazy!

I have gotten some requests from people (mostly from Indiana) about how this all happened and the story behind it. Most of the people who are keeping up with us I have never met and don’t know much about our little family. I know that one day we will all meet and can talk about this in eternity and how you all helped support me during this time.

I am mostly a stay-at-home mom, but during the summer months I work at a Christian kid’s camp called Word of Life Ranch. At this ranch I run a horsemanship program for the kids that come there and basically teach them how to ride horses and give trail rides and care for the horses. I have a staff of about 20 wranglers and just love my job there. We have roughly about 40 horses and I average about 40-50 kids per week in the program to ride. Graham is just as crazy about horses as I am and is actually much more talented with them when it comes to training and working with them. He helps me when he can with the program, and one of the things that we do is a weekly rodeo for the camp. It’s a lot of fun but that is where this accident took place. We do all sorts of events for it and many of them are not real events that you’d see in a real rodeo, but just fun stuff for people to watch. Some of the events though you would find in the rodeos across the country…like barrel racing etc. The “event” that Graham got hurt in involved cows and catching them off of your horse with a lasso. The idea was for two cowboys to race down on their horses and in a group of 8 cows try to lasso one and tie it off. We’ve done this so much and never has anything ever gone wrong. I remember watching Graham take off after the cow that he wanted and I just remember thinking how proud of him I was b/c he was just really doing a great job of chasing it and taking his time and “rating” the cow. After he picked his cow out his horse Crockett was running really fast after it to catch it. I watched Graham start to swing his rope and just wait patiently for the right time. He caught it instantly, and it was cool b/c it was right down the center of the arena and was just a “textbook” catch. Things in my mind get a little fuzzy from here, but basically the horse lost his footing for whatever reason…I believe the cow threw the horse’s weight off balance and Crockett just could not regain his step. Because he was going so fast the horse’s feet just crumbled underneath him and fell really hard! I do remember seeing Graham hit the ground and it has taken me several days to admit this to myself…but he hit the ground really hard. It really didn’t seem that bad at first….the horse actually just laid there for a few seconds and I remember thinking that Graham would just get up and be laughing and get back on. As soon as I could see that he wasn’t moving I knew it was bad. I was actually one of the first people to him and the cool thing now is that his horse just laid there on the ground waiting for instructions from Graham. I believe that the horse also had the wind knocked out of him! Graham’s feet were in the stirrups still, but we were able to get them out without any problems b/c Crockett just stood there.

The rest is a fog of ambulance rides, helicopter rides and all sorts of just craziness. We are still in that craziness right now, but I am also in a place of stillness and knowing that the Lord is Lord of all this right now. Keep us in your prayers and I’ll keep you all updated as best I can.

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What People are Saying

"I couldn’t stop reading….prepare to be stunned by redemption in the face of tragedy."
Christine Wyrtzen —Daughters of Promise

"I found the book riveting. It is a tremendous love story; love of one’s God, love of one’s family and most of all the love for one’s spouse."
P. Zabriskie

"I couldn’t put it down. A love story to the fullest extent."
M. Alto

"An incredible journey, a gripping read, a powerful story of tragedy and pursuit."
S. Birtch

"As the Camp Director and rodeo announcer that night, I remember our initial fears and the months of prayers by so many....Randi's story is very personal but very universal. I couldn't put it [the book] down."
J. Nazigain (Director of Word of Life Ranch and Ranger Camp)

"As their pastor it has been my honor and privilege to walk this stretch of life with the Stumps and to see their hope and faith in the Lord grow in spite of the odds being stacked against them.....The Dark Stretch is about Graham and Randi's walk through tragedy, but it is so much more; this book is a testament to God's love and mercy that He displays to His kids and He gets all the glory!"
C. Hanemen (Village Missions Pastor)

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Synopsis

On July 30, 2010, just before their 7th wedding anniversary, Randi watched helplessly as her husband and his horse slammed to the rodeo’s arena floor. Until that moment, as a ranch horsemanship director, she had life by the reins. She loved instructing children, working with the horses and coordinating the ranch rodeo. However, in that one tragic moment, she began to learn that many things were outside of her control. As Graham lay in a coma with a traumatic brain injury and with nothing but bad news upon bad news coming from the doctors, Randi painstakingly grappled for the courage to face the difficult run before her.

The hundreds who witnessed the accident in the rodeo arena and the thousands who followed the story on social media will find new depth of insight as Randi gives a soul-searching account of her transformation and shares all that God showed her in the shadow of death.

This story will inspire you to allow God to have His way with you, even if it means facing your own Dark Stretch.

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